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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



Chap. Copyricjht No. 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



1 










SURVIVALS 






BY 

LEWIS V. F. RANDOLPH 

EMBELLISHED BY 

BRYSON BURROUGHS 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 
NEW YORK & LONDON 
dbc •f?)iicheibocfter press 

MCM 




1 



84771 



Library of Conciresa 

Two Cones REctivto 
DEC 6 1900 

^ Copyright entry 

SECOND COPY 
0«'ivt)r«i to 

OROtH DIVISION 

DEC 16 1900 



< 



^? 



Copyright, 1900 

BY 

LEWIS V. F. RANDOLPH 



■Cbe Tknicherbochcr prees, t\evc l!?orlt 



DEDICATED 

TO THE COMPANION WHOSE BEAUTIFUL LIFE HAS 

INSPIRED THE AUTHOR'S BEST THOUGHTS 



APOLOGY 

ONCE the discovery by a certain revered Bank- 
President of a few harmless verses lost the 
writer a promotion, and well-nigh cost him his clerkship 
and living. "A proper young man!" exclaimed the 
President to the Cashier; " but poetry and banking don't 
mix. He should enter upon a literary career." Alas! 
what was most longed for could be least afforded. The 
heart clave to the "career." The handicapped youth 
clung to the clerkship. That was long ago. Now that 
one could make shift to afford a little poetry, it is too 
late for the " career." 

In a recent biography of the late John Mills, banker, 
reformer, and poet of Lancashire, we are informed that 
our own Emerson was one among Mills's many friends; 
and one day, hearing Alexander Ireland read some of 
Mills's poems, yet in manuscript, Emerson asked, " Why 
does he not publish them ? " When Ireland repeated 
this to Mills, the banker remarked, " If I published a 



Vi APOLOGY 

book of poetry, there would be a run on the bank in no 
time." 

Perhaps the old bankers were both right, though it 
is to be hoped that the business world grows kinder 
and more tolerant as it grows older. The daily grind of 
Wall Street, or of Threadneedle Street, does not foster 
fine thought ; nor does it aid in cultivating the imagina- 
tion. And yet men have been found in responsible 
positions whose services to mankind were not lessened 
by a struggle toward poetical ideals. Such ideals the 
writer has at least cherished — without growing ashamed. 

To him, also, life has, in the main, worn serious and 
religious aspects, and he has had some part in the Church 
militant. He confesses that seriousness — even to in- 
tensity — is not poetry. Here, doubtless, he needs — and 
he craves — indulgence. Still he trusts that fervor and 
aspiration are not yet, even at the turn of the Century, 
accounted as alien to the best spirit of modern verse. 

An over-fond mother — of blessed memory — valued and 
kept together her boy's poems. When she died, a prac- 
tical and prudent relative, happening into possession of 
the pile of papers, marvelled at their inutility, and of 
them promptly made a holocaust. Just how a certain 
few of the older collection were saved, and some later 
ones added, it is not now important to recount. In John 



APOLOGY Vll 

Bunyan's poetic allegory there is a quaint figure of an 
old man with a muck-rake, gathering unconsidered trifles. 
It would be sad to spend much of this probationary life 
wielding the muck-rake. One apology might in this case 
be that raking these forty compositions out of the rem- 
nants of forty years has furnished a brief diversion in a 
life too much devoted to the cares of this world and the 
deceitfulness of other people's riches. For the publi- 
cation of these remnants, or survivals, no apology is 
attempted. 




CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Survivals i 

December 4 

May 5 

Apostrophe 6 

Tahawus 8 

Sabbath at Beach Lake 12 

Boating up the Oswegatchie 14 

The Lily of the Lake 15 

The Brook 17 

Chazy 19 

The Delaware Water Gap 21 

Invocation 25 

We Walk by Faith ; Not by Sight 26 

The Peace of God 29 

Master ! Where Dwellest Thou ? 30 

1865 32 

Trenton Falls 34 

Laughing Eyes 36 

Hellas 41 

The Glory of Athens 42 

Mine 46 



X CONTENTS 

Born on the Wedding Day 48 

A Wedding Anniversary 49 

The Magi 51 

Lines for a Hall Opening 53 

Welcome to Delegates 57 

Philomathic Song 59 

Christmas Hymn 61 

Library Song f>2 

Faithful Shepherd Hymn 64 

The Colorado and its CaNon 65 

On Lake Huron 67 

Two Sublimities 70 

Adorning the Doctrine 73 

Thanksgiving 74 

Peace . . . 75 

Now 78 

" The Man with the Hoe" 81 

Easter 87 

Epitaph 8q 




s»t^Jl>Ji,. 



DRAWINGS 



Pass — leaving only in that sacred scene 

The Christ, the Mother, and the Magdalene." facutg 

' If hungry seas, ever demanding more, 
Gnaw the receding margins of the shore." 

' Shivers and shrivels now the winter day." 

' Gladdest of all the months comes tripping May : — 
Her breezes laden with her snow-white bloom." . 

' Betsie Blossom ! Tall and lithesome. 
Maiden of the nut-brown hair ! " . 



Courage ! Lo the trail we follow toward the peak 
that cleaves the sky ! " . 



The Sabbath has dawned, but the winds know it not." 

It flows through the graves of ancient trees, 
That moulder in darkness and damp." . 

' While Cynthia's cloudy shallops skim 
Her calm, cerulean sea. 
Here, in our light canoe, we float 

On beautiful Chazy." ..... 



17 



19 



Xll 



DKA WINGS 



" Have you stood upon our borders where the waters gently 
sweep 
'Twixt the stern and stately mountains ? " 

" So come to ray soul, Holy Spirit of Truth." 

" Oh, never leave us in the dark alone ! " 

" The Peace of God." ..... 

" Where dwells the Christ?" .... 



" What hast thou hidden, mournful Night ! 
What have ye seen, O Stars ! " . 

" Thine is the charm, O Kauy-a-hoo-ra bright ! " 

" Hellas, happy Hellas ! Mighty and glorious ! 
Lovingly thine azure sky embraced thy fruitful sea." 

" Like the Acropolis height looking calmly on 
jubilant Athens." . . . , 



" floods of light and sweetness." 

" They found a flower in Bethlehem's inn." 
" At the sacred, sweet Castalian Spring," 
" The Springtide." ..... 



" Across the Jordan, and from far. 
Come eager Eastern Sages." 

" From tomes of mingled lore 



21 

25 
26 
28 
30 

32 

34 

40 

43 
48 

51 
53 
57 

60 



Our minds — from many a store — 

This night are taught." ....... 62 



The faithful shepherd. ........ 64 



DRAWIA'GS xiii 

PAGE 

" Artery of sentient hills serene and tall." . . . .65 

" To feel His breath in every passing breeze, 
And in the smiling sun to meet His eye ! " . . . -67 

" Sublimity of motion for our land." . . . . -70 

" But where the icy crest, 
So coldly brilliant, crowns the regal hill. 
Behold the symbol of a changeless will — 

Sublimity of rest." ....... 72 

" Let us have Peace ! " . . . . . . . -75 

" Live in the present ; for 't is all thou hast." . . . -78 

" The while, through straight, brown billows of the soil 

They drive the plow." ........ 80 

From Turbulence to Rest. ....... 8g 




SURVIVALS 



GOD'S universe is one. He is its Soul. 
He vitalizes, guides, informs the whole. 
Matter exists not as a lifeless thing ; 
But, full of sentience and obedience, spring 
Suns, worlds, and song-birds to make glad acclaim 
Of unity of life in one Great Name. 
In essence all is Spirit. Every clod 
Attests its link and loyalty to God. 
Attraction, gravitation, are but words 
Hollow of meaning when the thought affords 
No just relation to the Piimal Force — 
No hint of union to the Central Source. 
God's Universe is Spirit. Things that seem 
So real are but shadows. What we deem 
As stalwart entities full oft are mere 
Refractions through a clouded atmosphere. 
Material things! Sight, feeling, touch, and taste 



SURVIVALS 

Attest them momently; and then they waste. 

Some melt like snowflakes in the vernal sun ; 

By friction, rust, decay, are some undone. 

These are but children of the earth and air 

Without fixed habitation anywhere. 

Through them, as through electric currents, come 

Bright, hopeful messages to souls that roam: — 

'T was a vibration; 't was a passing wave; 

The short-lived medium hasted to its grave: 

The message stayed, perchance, — a promise given, 

A word of love, a truth, a hope of Heaven. 

And, if things earthly and material fade — 

If the free winds the lofty hills abrade — 

If hungry seas, ever demanding more, 

Gnaw the receding margins of the shore — 

If Earth, herself, like a great moth, must fly 

About her luring sun-lamp in the sky. 

And then, perchance, some day fall in and burn — 

If e'en the lamp into a cinder turn — 

These wasting things, that haste to old from new. 

Are surely not the constant and the true. 

And what are quarrels and disputes of men 

About God's truth ? Fogs are they from the fen; 

As oppositions, science-made; so-called. 

But falsely. Many, stumbling and enthralled 



SURVIVALS 

Amongst these vapors, strain their sight to see 

The way to Life and Light and Liberty. 

Ah! what is Life ? Indulgence, struggle, care, 

Cunning device, persistence — foul or fair — 

In what is called success ? These make for death: 

They pass. They are not. Hardly had they breath. 

Of all within the sky of Calvary, 

What, in that dark horizon, do we see 

Living supernal, shining there as true 

Amid the dreadful death-damp and the dew ? 

Great Love to Man and Loyalty to God ! 

These live — a?-e true — and shed their light abroad. 

All else — the soldiers and the multitude. 

The scofifing priests and their benighted brood — 

Phantoms less real than the blackened sky — 

Out of that Presence, lo, they pass and die: — 

Pass — leaving only in that sacred scene 

The Christ, the Mother, and the Magdalene. 

What lasts, what lives forever, but the Truth ? — 
Wastes not with age but holds for aye its youth. 
The soul of man that loves it shall not fall; 
Who knows it not has never lived at all. 
Men move as phantoms in a world of strife: 
" The gift of God is Everlasting Life." 




i 



DECEMBER 

AS through some sun-forsaken canyon's stress 
Explorers pass to find a bright beyond — 
So through this dark defile, December, press 
Lives following larger light and hopes still fond. 

Shivers and shrivels now the winter day. 
And grave and grizzled is the weary year; 

But eyes of faith dwell not on hues of gray. 
And hearts of trust are unabashed by fear. 





MAY 



(Month ok Family Anniversaries) 



GLADDEST of all the months comes tripping May:- 
Her breezes laden with her snow-white bloom; 

And steeped in perfume, from the dawn of Day- 
Till Evening gently glides from gloam to gloom. 

Month full of happiest hope and memory — 

Of plans and retrospects — with many a thought 

Of truest tenderness for those whom we 

Closest to our own loving hearts have caught! 

O gladsome May! O witching, winsome May! 

How rich the light of thine expanding day! 




APOSTROPHE 



BETSIE BLOSSOM! Tall and lithesome, 
Maiden of the nut-brown hair, 
Maiden of the pure, white forehead — 

Eyes so tender — face so fair! 
Blossom of a stem immortal. 

Soul thou art, undying, sweet. 
That shall tread through countless jeons 
On the paths where angels meet. 
6 



APOSTROPHE 

Betsie Blossom! Glee and gladness 

Go thy gliding steps along. 
From thy lips so red, bewitching, 

Falls the ripple of a song — 
Fall the fine thoughts of the ages — 

Fall those love-thoughts said apart, 
Which, betimes, when thou art absent, 

Whisper softly to my heart. 

Do I love thee, Betsie Blossom ? 

Does the robin love her nest ? 
Does the blue sky love the cloudlet 

Whose soft hand has touched his breast ? 
Does the zephyr love the tree-tops ? 

Does the moonbeam love the mead ? 
Yes, I love thee, Betsie Blossom, 

And my love is love indeed. 








TAHA WUS 

COURAGE, comrades! shall the Mountain our am- 
bitious hopes defy ? 
Courage! Lo the trail we follow toward the peak that 
cleaves the sky! 

These be craven guides who warn us not to dare to-day 
his crest: 

Come, the Day-King's bannered pageant soon shall van- 
ish from the West ! 



Tramping where the avalanches rive the forests wide 

apart, 
Daring shaggy old Tahawus, losing path but never heart! 



TAHA WUS 9 

Now we press the virgin thickets. Yonder, flashing cas- 
cades pour; 

There, the fuming, foaming torrents strain their jaws in 
futile roar. 

Safe at last, and little recking of our weariness, we stand 
On this pinnacle of wonder, sweeping all the vision grand ! 

God is great! The hills declare it — God is great! The 
vales confess. 

Winds and woods and waters sound it through this tem- 
pled wilderness. 

Here is Nature's fittest altar; here her orisons arise — 
Snowy clouds her daily incense — tears of dew her sacri- 
fice! 

Mountain guards surround the stronghold, staunch and 

faithful in defence; 
In their stately presence standing, know, O Man, thy 

impotence! 

Yonder " Whiteface, " sternly silent, watches steadfastly 

his Gate; 
Everywhere are Prophet fingers pointing upward, fixed 

as Fate. 



lO TAHA IVUS 

" Skylight " from his lofty window many a shining lake 

espies 
(Chalices for giants, brimming with the vintage of the 

skies) ; 

Hillsides peopled still with forests; planted — reared — by 

hand Divine, 
Heirs of far unstoried ages, worthy of their noble line. 

In the Southern sky see Iris, blending soft, translucent 

hues; 
Orient's brow the Sun's last glances with a crimson blush 

suffuse — 

Emblems beautiful, but transient, of the pleasures Earth 

affords ; 
Like these calm enduring mountains are the joys that 

Heaven accords. 

Is it strange that on the hilltops God His presence oft 

hath shown — 
That from Sinai's curtained summit came the law, as 

from His throne ? 

That on Pisgah to His servant, He should point the 
Promised Land — 

Or in fane of blest Moriah give His chosen priests com- 
mand ? 



TAHA WUS 



II 



Let me on thy rocky forehead God's eternal law behold! 
Through thy clouds the glorious promise of a brighter 
land unfold! 

Let me hear His voice Almighty in thy blast so strong 

and free! 
Then shalt thou, O great Tahawus, be a holy place to me ! 

May His presence who was tempted in the Wilderness 

alone 
Here my weary spirit strengthen — to my heart His love 

make known ! 

Let me, like the blest Apostles, quench my thirst at Wis- 
dom's fount! 

Then my soul shall ever praise Him for this Sermon on 
the Mount! 





SABBATH AT BEACH LAKE 



(Adirondack Region) 

THE Sabbath has dawned, but the winds know it not; 
In tumultuous revel they roar 'round our cot; 
And the storm-clouds have joined in the chase on the 

mountains, 
Whilst the floods, erst imprisoned, rush forth from their 
fountains. 

The dark waves are quivering in anxious unrest; 
The fear-humbled cedars bow low from the West; 
But here, from this house in the wilderness, rise 
Glad anthems of praise to the storm-shrouded skies. 

12 



SABBATH AT BEACH LAKE 1 3 

Anon, as we meditate, stilled is the storm; 
And Nature seems standing with reverent form, 
In silence attending her Master's behest, 
Her turbulent elements hushing in rest. 

In groups now our silvery pathway we take 
Where gracefully rests the white Arm of the Lake; 
Her hand grasps a grotto of beauty most rare. 
With richest of canopies, tapestry fair. 

On mosses like these, fairies trip their light feet; 

This rock for the altar of giants is meet; 

Athwart leafy curtains lie sun-gilded bars; 

Yon pines are like watch-towers that call to the stars. 

What is said to the echoes, they 're sure to repeat; 
In this wilderness world, one must still be discreet — 
Words of kindness or slander, of love or of hate, 
Return to mix blessing or woe with our fate. 

The clouds from the mountains like incense ascend; 
The charms of bright Autumn in harmony blend; 
The twilight falls softly on hillside and shore; 
Night halts at her chamber to open the door. 



BOATING UP THE OSWEGATCHIE 

BOATING up the Oswegatchie!— 
Up the river swift and strong — 
Flowing here with silent purpose, 
Which to noble men belong! — 
Yonder breaking into song! 

Lo, the sportive finny beauties! — 
Flecked with gold and silver gray; 

Hiding in the coolest coverts — 

Leap they now to seize their prey — 
Leap to rue the fatal day. 

Floating on the Oswegatchie, 
In the fearful, solemn night! 

Start we at the scream of panther — 
Fly the red deer from our light 
Through the pines of templed height. 

Camping on the Oswegatchie! 

Spreads our tent like angel wings; 

Altar-like our camp-fire blazes. 
Piled with fragrant offerings — 
Sweet the rest that Nature brings! 




14 



THE LILY OF THE LAKE 



L' 



ILY fair! 

Bring unto me 
What Summer Wind and Wave 
Have given thee! 
Drooping in modest mien — 
Yet blushing not — serene, 
Guileless of vain pretence, 
Conscious of innocence. 
Angel to soul and sense. 
Sweet, pure, and brave! 

Lily-Bride! 
Bride of the Wave — 
(True, though the jealous Wind 
Whisper or rave — ) 
Lying in love confest, 
Safe on his heaving breast; 
Prizing his kisses — while 
Meeting Apollo's smile, 
Courtly and kind! 

Lily-Home! 
Home of the Bee — 
Gold-lined and draped in white, 
King here is he: 
15 



1 6 THE LIL V OF THE LAKE 

Palace of perfume rare! 
Richest of royal fare! 
Cup fit for Ganymede! 
Fairest of homes, indeed, 
Open to light! 

Lily-Star! 
Star of the Day — 
Phantom of Evening Star 
Caught here astray; 
Stealing upon the deep 
In the dark hour of sleep — 
Captured, but turned with hope 
Aye to the azure slope 
Beaming afar. 

Lily-Crown! 
Crown of the Lake — 
At Nature's banquet worn — 
Worn for her sake ! 
Lake, robed in silken sheen. 
Smiling, while hills in green 
Send her, from lordly heights, 
Tribute-streams of delights 
Cheerily borne! 



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THE BROOK 

SWEET is this breath of mountain air, 
And this rest from our wildwood tramp; 
And sweet is the brimming cup I quaff 
From the brook behind our camp. 



It flows through the graves of ancient trees, 
That moulder in darkness and damp; 

Yet an ever fresh and living stream, 
Is the brook behind our camp. 

2 

17 



THE BROOK 

It treasures the glance of the noontide beam, 
And the gleam of the starry lamp; 

For pure as the soul that is free from guile 
Is the brook behind our camp. 

In vain seek the envious rocks and roots 

Its freedom to crush or cramp; 
It trolls along its liberty song, 

The brook behind our camp. 

Often in busy haunts I shall pray — 

Let my character take its stamp 
From the constancy, purity, freedom, and force 

Of the brook behind our camp! 





CHAZY 

THE minstrel breezes touch the chords 
That sweep across the waves; 
And echo answers to our shouts, 
From distant mountain caves. 
While Cynthia's cloudy shallops skim 

Her calm cerulean sea, 
Here, in our light canoe, we float, 
On beautiful Chazy. 
19 



20 CHAZY 

The mountains, sombre and sublime, 

Stand bold against the skies, — 
Stern sentinels that sleepless watch 

The cradled lake that lies 
In child-like innocence and trust, 

Breathing so peacefully, 
While starry dreams their light diffuse 

O'er beautiful Chazy. 

Bright Cynthia, guide thy cloudy fleet 

Across thine azure sea! 
Ye warrior hills, in mail of green, 

Watch ever steadfastly! 
Sweet lake, still trustfully repose; — 

And may my destiny 
Be calm and bright as thou to-night, 

O beautiful Chazy! 




■:^^M.^ 




THE DELAWARE WATER GAP 

1859 

BEAUTIFUL may be the rivers of the distant, olden 
world, 

Grand indeed must be its mountains, 'round whose fore- 
heads oft are curled 

Snowy locks like those depending from the old-time 
courtier's brow; 

But we may not pause to muse upon their boasted splen- 
dors now; 

For within the ample limits of our own beloved State 

Scenes replete with rare enticements our portrayal still 
await. 

21 



22 THE DELA WARE WA TER GAP 

Have you stood upon our borders where the waters gently 

sweep 
'Twixt the stern and stately mountains ? These their 

faithful vigils keep 
And, like parents fondly gazing on the infant of their 

care, 
Seem to listen to the prattle of the lovely Delaware. 

'T was a balmy Summer evening when my poet friend 

and I 
First beneath that placid current saw the shadows mingled 

lie. 
While the Sun his parting glances cast athwart the waters 

clear. 
Ere he weighed his golden anchor for another hemisphere. 
Near at hand, a boat was lying on the sloping, pebbled 

strand. 
On the sylvan shore the mountain grew more gloomy and 

more grand. 
Till, her sunny tresses buried low in Night's maternal lap, 
Joyous Day had sunk to slumber in the peaceful Water 

Gap. 

In the morning we are climbing the redoubted Jersey 

Bluff; 
Scaling Nature's lofty battlements, precipitous and rough, 



THE DELA WARE IV A TER GAP 23 

Where the rattlesnake's reveille beats to warn you of his 
blow, 

And the pilot, fierce guerilla, lurks concealed to strike 
the foe. 

Now we pluck the starry laurel — joy from desolation 
born — 

On the highest peak the richest, like the wreath by great- 
ness worn. 

As we stand upon the summit, what a landscape greets 

our eye! 
Looking Eastward, town and hamlet, field and wood, 

alternate lie. 
Yonder basks the sleepy hillside in the sun's somnific 

beam. 
Now and then a filmy shadow floating o'er it like a 

dream : 
Just before us, to the Westward, rise the heights of 

Minnesink, 
And beyond, the chain of Pocono, with many a giant link, 
In its everlasting fetters holds the uncomplaining Earth, 
Bound in unremitting thraldom from the moment of her 

birth. 
Far below, the river stretches, like a Python, through the 

vale. 



24 THE DELAWARE WATER GAP 

On the shore, a crawling reptile, seems the Dragon of the 
Rail; 

Glancing upward, we behold the graceful cloudlets over- 
head, 

Like the spotless robes of angels, on the azure meadow 
spread. 

So we gaze with happy wonder all around, above, below, 

While our hearts with warm devotion to the Great De- 
signer glow. 

When at night we find our chamber full of gentle, holy 

light, 
Every low and carnal passion from our bosoms takes its 

flight. 
As we muse upon the pleasures and the glories of the day, 
In a trance of silent ecstasy our spirits float away; 
Every thought is hushed in silence, every busy sense is 

still, 
Lulled to slumber by the music of the plaintive whippoor- 

will. 





INVOCATION 

AS comes the clear Dawn to the gray, star-eyed 
Morning, 
As come the warm pulses of love-life to youth; 
So graciously shine, with Thy brightness adorning! 
So come to my soul, Holy Spirit of Truth! 

Long over my thought has Doubt mistily brooded; 

This heart the world-demons have sought to debase; 
Temptations have pressed me; false lights have deluded; 

O give me Thy true Light, Sweet Spirit of Grace! 

Across the still sea has the Day-King, ascending, 

Paved with gold a plain path to his throne in the sky — 

So, show me some golden path heavenward tending 
And along that bright way let my faith gladly fly! 

Thou, Who at the Jordan so sweetly didst hover 
Above the Messiah of God, Gentle Dove, — 

Now one of His straylings guide Thou to safe cover, 
And abide ever near me, Dear Spirit of Love! 

25 








fiif.l'^ii 



"WE WALK BY FAITH; NOT BY SIGHT" 

(2 Corinthians v., 7) 

I SAW a sad young woman, on the car, 
Tending a puny boy, whose eyeballs told 
A tale of helpless blindness. But he clung 
Close to his mother; listened for her voice; 
Spoke to her often; wished to touch her hand. 
She was his joy — light of his sunless life. 
Weary, his trembling little limbs lay down 
To rest. His eyelids closed o'er sightless balls; 
But, ever and anon, he waked and wailed — 
" Mother, don't leave me in the dark alone! " 
And yet again, in fretful monotone, 
" Mother, don't leave me in the dark alone! " 

26 



WE WALK BY FAITH 



V 



With mother absent, all was dark to him ; 
When she was surely near, light blessed his life. 
She was his all; and, conscious of her love 
And precious presence, he would not complain, 
Though Night's weird chamber compassed him for aye. 
As dark and narrow as the house of Death. 

So grope we here, dear Lord, and so complain, 

If fearful that Thy love is shut from us. 

More tender than a mother's love is Thine I 

Its rays can pierce our else unfathomed gloom — 

Reveal horizons wide and bright with hope, 

A path, though straight, and thorny, too, betimes, 

Hallowed by blood-drops of Thy sacrifice. 

And leading on to honor and to Thee. 

The sweet effulgence of Thy presence lights 

Our way, and makes our blindness turn to sight. 

With Thee we 're blest — without Thee desolate — 

Oh, never leave us in the dark alone! 




THE PEACE OF GOD 

(Phil, iv., 7) 



OH, who can e'er compute its height, 
Or tell how deep and broad, 
The Peace that fills with pure delight 
The soul that trusts in God! 



Though Calumny may wield her blade, 

And Chastisement her rod. 
The pure in heart may undismayed 

Dwell in the Peace of God. 



" Through Jesus Christ " — His grace alone 

Our hearts with peace can fill; 
E'en Sorrow's waves their Master own — 

Commanding — " Peace! Be still! " 



Whatever else Thou dost deny. 
Father, this boon bestow, 

That while I live, and when I die, 
Thy Peace I still may know! 
29 



— 1 







" MASTER ! WHERE DWELLEST THOU ? " 

(John i., 38) 

WHERE dwells the Christ ? In palaces of ease ? 
In courts of splendor, or in halls of mirth ? 
These would not welcome Him — He seeks not these; 
But dwells with those who know His royal worth. 

Where dwells the Christ ? In scenes of peace alone ? 

Far down the verdant vale of safe content ? 
Nay; for to Him no earthly rest was known; 

But sword and strife with Him on earth were sent. 
30 



''MASTER! WHERE DWELLEST THOU ? " 3 I 

Where dwells the Christ ? On fierce Temptation's 
mount — 

On stormy sea — in solitudes unknown — 
Wherever Grief unlocks her tearful fount — 

In stricken Sorrow's garden, dark and lone! 

Where dwells the Christ ? Amidst the poor, the blind, 
The broken-hearted, sin-sick, and defiled — 

Restoring lepers, and the shattered mind — 
Raising the dead; blessing the tender child! 

Scarce can we say the Lord of Glory divelt 

Amidst the scenes of human joy or ill; 
Yet, on our earth (whose griefs His great heart felt) 

The perfume of His presence lingers still. 

Aye, more than this; for in the deeper sense. 

He dwells to-day with those who love His Word: 

This gift I crave, with longing most intense, 
The sweet indwelling of my precious Lord. 





i865 

WHAT hast thou hidden, mournful Night! 
What have ye seen, O stars! 
A country turning to the Light, 

Covered with sacred scars, 
Plunged back in dark and dire distress 

By one foul, fiendish deed 
That leaves a people comfortless — 
Makes every true heart bleed. 
32 



i86s 

It was no common crime that struck 

That God-like man to earth — 
Ruthless, the tender eye to pluck 

That watched our land's new birth. 
No word — nor Treason, Fratricide, 

Nor Parricide — can tell 
His act, whose hand was so allied 

With powers of deepest hell. 

T/u's was our brother, father — more; — 

Chosen by mother-land, 
His name her valiant sons adore 

In every patriot band. 
God of our brethren and our sires! 

Be Thou our Father now; 
Whilst at our altars and our fires 

In prayerful grief we bow ! 



33 





^:. ^-^>--s^^^^ 



^ 

-^ 



' J' II i\ w 



-mm 

11' 







TRENTON FALLS 



THINE is the charm, O Kauy-a-hoo-ra bright! 
'T is not the infant cascade's airy dress 
Nor old Niagara's sacerdotal robe 
That clothes thy stream between these knightly cliffs; 
But, in the amber, seemly and mature. 
Of rich experience and hopeful strength 
Thou 'rt clad; and when Apollo from his height 
Above the trees (Briareus-like that lift 
Their hundred arms aloft in mute surprise) 
Smiles on thee, thou in turn dost smile. 
34' 



TRENTON FALLS 35 

The golden glory of thy graceful form, 

With silver sandals shod, moves down the slope 

In conscious loveliness and majesty. 

Far down below, I mark the fretted foam 

Dash on the broad-tiled roof, beneath whose eaves 

The water-sprites must dwell. These issue forth 

Anon in merry troops to sweep away 

The vagrant spray, that, like a diamond dust. 

Bestrews the verdure of thy lichened walls. 

Yet further down, and oh! what fateful wrath 
Of envy-angered rocks thou must endure! 
They rack thy writhing form, nor heed thy cries, 
But, fierce and merciless, they wring and break 
Thy shapeliness — nor spare the torture, till 
Thou driftest on, the wreck of what thou wast. 
Feeble and faint, to fall an easy prey 
To man's coarse purposes. He drives thee, then, 
A helpless, hopeless, unresisting slave. 




HM LAUGHING EYES WM 



a^FFiv 



ORIPE, red lips! 
O laughing eyes! 
Beauty like yours 

Hath high emprise. 
Then why not spare 
Poor, humble me! 
Not great my fault ! — 
Show clemency! 



I only looked 

With reverence true; 
Nor sinful thought 

Nor impulse knew. 
I dared not even 

Covet such prize — 
Then mock me not, 

O sweet, bright eyes! 



36 




O pearly teeth! 

O heavenly eyes! 
For one what joy 

From you shall rise. 
But not for iiic — ■ 

Ah^ not for nic ! 
'T were ecstasy! 

'T is agony! 



Yet let me gaze 

Upon thy face! 
I '11 crush the hope 

Of near embrace. 
One peep into 

This paradise — 
Banished then I! 

O beauteous eyes! 




O glossy hair! 

O lovely eyes! 
This moment blest 

Too swiftly flies. 
One moment more 

In bliss to bask! 
Not much to give — 

Though much to ask. 



Then, all of life 

Will take its hue 
From one sweet thought 

Of worship true. 
My course henceforth — 

Foolish or wise — 
Shall shine with light 

From glorious eyes. 






38 



Soft, blooming cheek! 

Sweet, cruel eyes! 
Far, far away 

My shallop plies. 
Farewell, bright face 

And graceful form — 
I go to meet 

Life's stress and storm! 



8 



Nay, look not so! 

Art thou not glad ? 
A downcast glance! 

A tear! Art sad ? 
O matchless joy! 

O blest surprise! 
Forever mine! 

Dear, loving eyes! 




39 




40 








HELLAS 

HELLAS, happy Hellas! Mighty and glorious! 
Lovingly thine azure sky embraced thy fruitful 
sea; 
Fruitful in triumphs! Hellas victorious! 
Fruitful, too, in commerce from thy galleys fleet and free! 

Hellas, happy Hellas! crowned and resplendent! 
Wisdom, culture, eloquence, thy jewels rich and rare! 

Bowed low the nations, conquered, dependent, 
Proud to catch the sunbeams of thy smile so sweet and 
fair! 

Hellas, happy Hellas! Grateful, revering, 
Quaff we still thy peerless streams of art and poesy. 

Thy heroes greet we: — Spirits appearing 
Yonder, where the sky serene bends down to kiss thy sea. 




41 







THE GLORY OF ATHENS 

PERICLES, statesman and hero, fresh from his con- 
quest of Samos, 
Stood on the Pnyx in his triumph, drinking the praises 

of Athens. 
Into the Port of Pyrseus had entered his gaily-decked 

galleys : — 
Oars plashing stroke by stroke onward, guided by flute's 

dulcet music. 
Bronzed were the seamen and soldiers; brave were their 

hearts; and most hearty 
Shouts did they send 'gainst the Sea Wall, and up to 

great Pallas Athense — 
Shouts of devotion to Hellas; to Pericles, grandest of 

leaders. 

42 















Now on the Pnyx towered he, the noblest of all that as- 
sembly ; — 
Like the Acropolis height looking calmly on jubilant 

Athens. 
Scarcely complete was her Parthenon, brilliant, sublime, 

and majestic, 
Holding the rays of the sun in purest and dazzling white 

marble ; — 
Scheme of the artist soul Phidias, Pericles' friend and 

companion. 
Gazed he upon it, this chieftain, poet more even than 

warrior, 
Gazed on this glorious home of the goddess of Athens, 

great Pallas: 
Then to the grateful assembly he spoke, interrupting 

their plaudits: — 

43 




Yonder behold your Acropolis, sacred forever to Beauty! 
Beauty will rule your Republic, kindest and gentlest of 

tyrants. 
Only to her shall be yielded the homage of freemen of 

Hellas. 
Shout not your praises to Pericles, soldier and citizen 

only. 
Athens, whose mission and destiny are on that hill-top 

emblazoned, 
Calls for your pgeans of glory ; and Athens is daughter 

of Beauty. 
Honor her wisdom and art, philosophy, poetry, music; — 
All that is lovely in thought and beaming with genius and 

culture. 
These are the themes that entrance us, greater than car- 
nage and conquest: 
Over them all, and pervading, sits the divinity, Pallas, 
Goddess of all that is wise, and thus of the Beautiful also, 

44 




Sits in the highest of councils, — Beauty enthroned and 
enthralling. 

Sophocles, sweetest of poets, no sentiment gives us be- 
yond this; 

Socrates, thinker and questioner, questions not this is 
pure wisdom ; 

Great Anaxagoras, sage and reasoner, will not oppose 
me: 

None shall be skeptical here; and none shall refuse his 
allegiance. 

Graces and Muses unite to lead us to willing subjection 

To one sweet Sublimity only — to Beauty, Serene and 
most Queenly. 



Thus spoke the Orator, matchless, the gracious and 

mighty Olympian: 
Joyously, then, he abandoned his wreath for the smiles 

of Aspasia. 

45 




r^ 



YES, mine, my own! 
Bone of my bone 
My other soul 
That makes me whole! 
Thus flesh and mind 
One tie can bind. 
My lovely face, — 
My form of grace, — 
My charming smile 
Devoid of guile — 



46 




My lips sincere, 
)&, " )\ Sweetest when near; 

For me the thought 
With goodness fraught 
And sweetest word 
Ear ever heard 
In tenderest tone 
0\} To mortal known! 

Heart of my heart — 
The sacred part! 
I form with thee 
One unity. 
My gentle guide — 
My only pride — 
My hope, my life, 
My joy, my Wife! 



f 





47 




^ 















,-P 



X32^ 




BORN ON THE WEDDING DAY! 

I'M twenty-one to-day — This morn I told her; 
Just reached majority — not one day older! 
No one would think, she 'd said, that you are fifty 
With hair so brown — with air so gay and thrifty. 

Nay, just of age I am; loving is living — 

And one and twenty years have you been giving 

Into my spirit floods of light and sweetness, 

Whilst Time has sped with wings of passing fleetness. 

Then say not I am fifty, this good May-day! 
I count behind full many a glad and gay day 
All spent with you; and hope for more in plenty; 
But mind, to-day, I 'm only one and twenty! 

48 



A WEDDING ANNIVERSARY 

(After Sixty Years) 

THE year had climbed its topmost height 
Just sixty years ago, 
Had reached the region of delight — 
Midsummer's calm plateau. 

The well-contented golden days, 

Reluctant to depart. 
Basked in the loving, ardent rays 

Fresh from the sun's great heart. 

Where trooped the multi-tinted bloom. 

O'er lawn and garden fair, 
From morning gray to evening gloom, 

Joy was beyond compare. 

The valley-lilies, meekly small, 

In worship low had bent 
To lordly lilacs, grand and tall; 

And both their day had spent. 

Now roses, too, had filled the June 

With hue and perfume rare; — 
Whilst thrush and catbird sang in tune 

With Nature everywhere. 
49 



50 A WEDDING ANNIVERSARY 

The next would be the Nation's day: 

For sixty years and more 
Our land, bedecked with banners gay, 

Had heard its cannons roar. 

The land to Freedom consecrate, 

In bloom and verdure clad, 
In waving corn and ripened wheat, 

With hope and promise glad I 

Love measures not by years, I ween, 

Her voyage o'er the seas; 
To them it seems but yester-e'en 

Their good ship took the breeze. 

And many a day they 've sailed and sailed, 
Nor recked the hours that passed ; 

They saw, howe'er the winds prevailed, 
A haven sure at last. 

To thein^ Great Father, still be kind ! 

Nor let thy favors cease! 
With store and basket, strength and mind, 

Give length of days and peace! 
July 3, 1898. 













THE MAGI 



(A Christmas Carol and Song of Epiphany) 

THEY came from the East, from the source of light ; 
Where ages ago the day was born; 
Whence rides the sun in his wondrous might, 
His chariot wet with the dew of morn. 

They turned from the sun to track a star. 
But never for this did their zeal grow less; 

And they hailed at last, after journeying far, 
The glorious Sun of Righteousness. 

51 



52 THE MAGI 

They came from the East, the Land of Spice — 
And laden with perfumes rich and rare; — 

A fragrant and precious sacrifice 

Like incense of humble and holy prayer. 

They found a flower in Bethlehem's inn, 
Far sweeter than in the Orient grows; 

Unsoil'd of earth, untouched of sin, 
Was the bud of Sharon's lovely Rose. 

They came from the East; and of Kingly state 
Their peers had been in their native land; 

Yet now for them all it was meet to mate 
With the lowly carpenter's family band. 

For in that infant meek and fair 

They marked the signs of lofty birth; 

And gladly they gave Him homage there — 
The rightful King of all the Earth. 





LINES WRITTEN FOR THE OPENING OF A 

HALL DEVOTED TO MUSIC, ORATORY, 

SOCIAL FUNCTIONS, AND THE DRAMA 

'nr* IS many a league across the seas to Thrace; 
1 And many an age has run its reckless race 
Since at the sacred, sweet Castalian Spring 
On Mount Parnassus, mortals sought to bring 
Their votive offerings to the glorious Nine — 

53 



54 LINES 

The Muses, both by birth and deeds divine — 

Daughters of Zeus and fair Mnemosyne — 

Patrons of History and Poesy — 

Clio, Euterpe, and their sisters seven, 

Who brought the thoughts of gods to earth from heaven. 

At feasts of great Immortals, when they sang, 
Apollo played, and grand Olympus rang 
With wave on wave of high, majestic song. 
And then with rapturous plaudits loud and long. 

They sing the story of Creation fair. 
And all the dreadful perils heroes dare. 
For Cadmus, at his nuptials, they rejoice; 
Or, erst, lament Achilles' death, with voice 
So mournful, and with tones of such distress, 
That gods and men mix tears of tenderness. 
They know the past, the future they foretell; 
A favored few of mortals feel their spell 
And write, or sing, or strike the stirring lyre 
With themes that thrill, or passions fierce as fire. 

To call adown the ages — o'er the seas — 
The Muses to indite such lines as these 
Presumption were; but not t' invoke their grace 



LINES 5 5 

To bless and brighten this our chosen place 

For grave instruction and diversion pure, 

For plays that please and doctrines that endure— 

For voice of cantatrice, or choral song — 

For lightsome step of mirth, — for social throng. 

Our Music Hall, adorned as seen to-night 
By many a lovely face with eyes of light, 
(Outshining far the lesser charms of art 
Playing their modest and appointed part,) 
Might well Calliope with epic greet, 
Or give Terpsichore a welcome meet — 
Or Polyhymnia — singing sacred strains — 
Or Clio summing up the Century's gains — 
Thalia, radiant with her mirthful eyes. 
Or Sweet Urania, telling of the skies. 

Ah, well! Though nymphs and goddesses no more 
May walk on Time's dull and prosaic shore; — 
Nor ev'n an Orpheus hitherward may roam. 
Seeking Eurydice so far from home; — 
Yet inspirations now, as ne'er before. 
Come trooping over from the further shore 
Where Spirit-broods, unbound by flesh and sense — 
As birds of passage come — we know not whence — 



56 



LINES 



Bring gladsome message to the weary soul — 
Add truest wealth to earth's penurious dole. 

So may we see, upon our modest stage, 
The fruits that ripen in this later age — 
The fruits of wisdom, wit, and song, — display 
Their charms to these dear folk for many a day! 
And oft when Night in her white garden path, 
Sickle in hand, finds bounteous aftermath 
Of starry blossoms, here may Merit find. 
Amidst our borders, garlands to her mind. 
And plenteous sheaves in joyful harvest bind! 








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1 




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1 



WELCOME TO THE DELEGATES AT THE NA- 
TIONAL SUNDAY-SCHOOL CONVENTION 

LO, the throng incoming with the Springtide — 
Mingling grateful anthems with the bird — 
Visiting, like showers of sweet refreshing, 

Groves whose buds to life are gently stirred! 
Greet we these, our brethren, bringing with them 

Promise of the blossom of the soul ; 
Watered by the showers of heavenly blessing ; 
Seeking, like the birds, a joyous goal. 

Chorus : 

Give we now to all a cordial greeting. 

Welcome! welcome! welcome to our hearts! 

Glad that from our souls — though time be fleeting — 
Holy Christian friendship ne'er departs. 

57 



$8 WELCOME 

These have caught the spirit of the Master, 

Calling little children to their Lord — 
Seeking out, betimes, the poor, forsaken — 

Bearing them the gospel of the Word; — 
Giving here and there a cup of water 

From the ever-brimming fount of life — 
Lifting from despair the son and daughter 

Fallen in the sad and painful strife. 

Chorus : — Give we now to all, etc. 

Give us in our labor, gracious Father, 

Faith like that which Noah had of old! 
While the threatening tempest yet must gather, 

May we to the Ark conduct Thy fold! 
Building, trusting, hoping for deliverance — 

Riding then the storm, we will not fear, — 
Till the Spirit-Dove shall bring us tidings 

That the Sacred Mount of rest is near. 
Chorus : — Give we now to all, etc. 







SUNG AT THE TWELFTH ANNIVERSARY OF 

THE NEWARK PHILOMATHIC SOCIETY, 

MAY, 1866 

TIS sweet in Spring through garden or glade. 
To gather the garlands that bloom but to fade; 
But sweeter far in the Springtime of youth 
To gather the fadeless flowers of Truth. 
When Summer the life-blood of Nature warms, 
We gladly pluck fruit from her generous arms; 
But the fruits of a noble manhood's prime 
Are more precious than those of the sunniest clime. 
Give praise! Give praise to the glorious King 
Who gives Life's Summer and Spring. 

From year to year this favored band 

Have passed through a pleasant and beautiful land — 

Where Purity's fruits and Poetry's flowers 

Have gladdened the flight of the swift-winged hours — 

Found still by each Northward-journeying sun 

With hearts all united and aims ever one. 

The flowers and fruits of peace we bring! 

The triumphs of truth and love we sing! 

Give praise! Give praise to the glorious King 

Who gives Life's Summer and Spring. 

59 



6o 









CHRISTMAS HYMN 

i86S 

ACROSS the Jordan, and from far, 
Come eager Eastern Sages; 
Still, meteor-like, yon moving star 

Each eye and heart engages. 
In Bethlehem's hovel, poor and small. 

Their humble homage centres; 
'T is here the mighty Lord of all 
Our world of sorrow enters. 

Chorus : — O happy day! O happy place! 

Wondrous indeed the story! 
There dwelt divine and infant grace — 

Frail form with God-like glory. 

The Child in Bethlehem's manger born — 

The Man with grief acquainted — 
The Christ whom sinners dared to scorn 

Now reigns o'er all the sainted. 
But still He loves, as once of old, 

The little ones to gather — 
Shelters the lambs within His fold 

And brings them to His Father. 

Chorus : — O happy day! O happy place! etc. 
6i 



i\\ 




/ ' 



/ - 



SONG FOR MERCANTILE LIBRARY DINNER, 
NOVEMBER, 1868 

Air — Ainerica 

WHEN Day's bright work is done, 
Cloud escorts to the sun 
Their flags entwine. 
When Summer's mission ends. 
Autumn her glories blends, 
And many a gem depends 
From tree and vine. 
62 



SONG 63 

Thus, twined and blended here, 
Our hearts in love draw near 

This festal eve. 
To some, Day yet is bright 
With Summer's bloom in sight; — 
O'er others, Autumn's light 

Its spell doth weave. 

Like Trade's great thoroughfares. 
Piled high with varied wares. 

Are marts of thought. 
From tomes of mingled lore 
On shelves we 've known of yore. 
Our minds — from many a store — 

This night are taught. 

O, may we merchants be 
Of what shall make men free 

In age or youth! 
And when, in street or hall, 
'T is asked what wares we call; — 
We '11 answer, each for all. 

We buy the truth! 




SUNG AT THE TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVER- 
SARY OF A FAITHFUL MINISTRY 

FOR all the space our friend has wrought, 
We thank Thee, Lord, and mark Thy hand 
Through days, with showers of mercy fraught, 
Through years, with bows of promise spanned. 

For all the grace on him bestowed. 
For all Great Wisdom hath withheld; 

For strength and weakness, sun and cloud, 
We praise Thee now — all doubts dispelled! 

Now on his loved ones, and on him. 

May all Thy richest blessings fall! 
Our strength is frail; our sight grows dim; 

But none on Thee shall vainly call! 
64 




THE COLORADO AND ITS CANON 

OWEEP grandly on, O fierce and mighty flood, 
<-^ Artery of sentient hills serene and tall— 
Whose red arms, lifted, claim more ancient blood 
Than we who count our sires from Adam's Fall' 

5 

65 



66 THE COLORADO AND ITS CANON 

Why dost thou choose to wash these rugged steeps, 
Rather than wander on the sunlit plain ? 

Dost love to plash about the donjon keeps, — 
Thy current fretted with its murky stain ? 

O, what are storied castles on the Rhine 

Compared with these more ancient and more grand ? 
And what the streams of Alp and Apennine 

Beside this torrent of our sunset-land ? 

'Mongst Northern snows it lifts its throbbing head; 

Its foot rests calmly in the tropic sand. 
Its life so restless — all disturbed its bed — 

Sleeps when with yonder gulf locked hand in hand. 

Ah, life is all so like this turbid stream! 

And frowning walls hem our imperilled path; 
But, from its source, each drop bears wisest scheme: 

Peace wakes at last from fitful dreams of wrath. 





^::^ J 



ON LAKE HURON 



TO " look through Nature up to Nature's God " — 
To know that in the graceful, bending sky 
The King of Heaven is bending over us — 
Encompassing about His chosen ones 
With sure protection and a joy serene — 
To feel His breath in every passing breeze, 
67 



68 ON LAKE HURON 

And in the smiling sun to meet His eye! 
Such precious thought and feeling like to this 
Are far too grand in their expansive swell 
For the poor, scanty dress of threadbare words. 

And why may not the soul each moment rise 
To contemplation from ethereal heights — 
When spirit-wings droop near us and invite 
To regions purer than the realm of sense ? 
Alas, we steep our better part in sin, 
Or let the chain of sloth be bound about 
The languid faculties in bondage vile: — 
Not that with sudden onset overcome 
Of evil, we are thrown and firmly held 
Apart from pure communings with our God 
Through sacred mediums by Him ordained; 
But, by degrees of which we take no note — 
By heeding not to keep the heart attuned 
To lofty themes, worthy a lofty birth. 
We loose the tie that bound us to the sky. 
While, hour by hour, the spirit's guiding light 
Beneath the dark horizon sadly sinks. 
We fail to note the twilight of the soul, 
Nor dream that night is stealing o'er the view;- 
Until, perchance, when rising to look out 



ON LAKE HURON 



69 



Upon the marvels of the universe, 

We find the vision barred on every side 

And naught sublime that offers intercourse. 

Thank God! This blest communion still I hold, 
And feel this moment its exalting spell, 
While standing on this stately vessel's deck — 
A pure delight inhaling with the breeze. 
Meanwhile the Lake, her throbbing bosom cleft 
By the sharp keel, gives forth a soft complaint. 
Yet smiles where'er the morning's diamond rays 
Glitter resplendent on her silver plumes: 
Meanwhile, the clouds alternate grow and melt — 
Each instant taking new and beauteous form. 
Or, in a transitory grandeur, stand 
Above the distant shore — itself a cloud. 





TWO SUBLIMITIES 

["There are two Sublimities in nature — one of Motion; one of 
Rest. The first, Niagara ; the second, Mont Blanc," — Remark of 
Richard Cobden to his f^-iend Goldwin Smithi\ 



T 



IS meet it should be so! 
Sublimity of motion for our land, 
Whose life, in strong pulsations, deep and grand, 
No rest can ever know. 
70 



TIVO SUBLIMITIES ^l 



But, where the icy crest, 
So coldly brilliant, crowns the regal hill, 
Behold the symbol of a changeless will — 

Sublimity of res^/ 

3 

There Time is old. His brow 
Is seared and silvered with the patriarch's hoar; 
Though in the fateful past he never wore 

A nobler mien than now. 

4 

Here Time is young: 
The blood of youth is coursing through his frame; 
And lo! e'en now, in loftiest paeans, Fame 

America has sung. 

5 

How glorious here to stand! 
At Nature's shrine uncovered then to bend; 
And here receive, while love and reverence blend, 

A baptism from her hand! 

6 
Most glorious 't is of all 
To stand with Freedom, whose resistless wave 



72 



TWO SUBLIMITIES 



Oppression tries to stem — herself to save 
From her impending fall! 



That baptism, to endure 
Which, though it be of blood, must ever show- 
Athwart the flood a dear, resplendent bow 

Of peace benign and pure. 
Niagara Falls, September 14, 1864. 




"ADORNING THE DOCTRINE" 

(Titus ii., lo) 

ADORN the doctrine of the Lord — 
For me how great the task! 
Adorn the glory of His Word 
In whose bright beams I bask! 

Yet, fresh from lucid depths of truth, 

This pearl of peerless ray 
Is set most fittingly, in sooth, 

When fixt in humble clay. 

If barren rocks, though bald and scarred. 

Grow bright beneath the beams, 
Which, through sweet Morning's gates unbarred. 

Pour in refulgent streams: 

Then, gardens sown with seed divine 

Should shine in loveliest dress. 
When o'er them smiles, in peace benign, 

The Sun of Righteousness. 

Forbid, dear Sun, that sombre pall 

Of doubt should thee eclipse. 
Or sin's dread shadows ever fall 

From hand, or heart, or lips! 



73 



THANKSGIVING 

1875 
Give Thanks ! 

GIVE thanks, give thanks, my country! 
For God hath given thee peace — 
From sword and plague His shield hath saved, 
And made thy power increase. 

Rejoice, old men and matrons, 

In comfort of His truth! 
Young men give praise, with maidens fair, 

For all the joys of youth. 

Sing gladsome songs, O children, 

Born in this land and age! 
Grow Heavenward with a noble aim! 

In noble strife en-gage! 

Give thanks, ye favored people, 
For life with broadened scope! — 

For worldly thrift, for holy ties, 
For mightier nerve and hope. 

To-day with grateful anthems 

Let all our borders ring. 
To God, our Father and our Friend! 

To God our only King! 

74 







\ X N <v^s 






■'^\\\ii 



■^' K'Mm 



" PEACE " 

" Let Us Have Peace ! " (Letter of Acceptance) 
i86S 

FOR Peace do we pray — aye, we labor — 
For peace between neighbor and neighbor. 
Away with fell Hate, the destroyer, 
Call Love back to life and enjoy her! 
75 



•^6 ''PEACE'' 

Like Jesus to snatch from the charnel 
The victim of spirits infernal; — 
From her grave-clothes sweet Love to deliver, 
The garment of gladness to give her: — 

O, beautiful task! the divinest, 
Great Father, thou ever assignest! 
O, miraculous power! achieving 
The master-piece of the believing! 

When the land was o'erswept by the demon 
Of grief and destruction; when seamen 
And landsmen left labor and barter 
To change to the hero and martyr; — 

Then the hum of the wheel and the reaper 
Was hushed at the wail of the weeper — 
At the cannon's dread boom — and the whistle 
Of the swift and unmerciful missile. 

Thank God that to prayer He has barkened ! 
Though the storm-clouds of conflict have darkened, 
The stars on our flag have relighted 
A nation redeemed and united. 



''PEACE'' "J J 

Lo! the channels of commerce yet cumbered, 
And the wrecks of high promise unnumbered! 
Still Calumny's spear is not broken, 
And Jealousy's lies are yet spoken. 

The horizon no longer is darkling, 
But glows with a banner, all sparkling 
With hope; and our moral Aurora 
Shows beauties diviner than Flora. 

Aye! let us have peace ; and confessing 
Our lack of deserving the blessing, 
We '11 thank the Great Giver who sends it, 
And honor the man who defends it. 














NOW 



LIVE in the present; for 't is all thou hast ; 
And covet not the treasure thou hast spent. 
Use every moment as it were thy last! 

What though the future shall be opulent 
With golden privilege and sparkling joy! 

Thou canst not know thou shalt inherit these; 
A fateful breath may all thy hopes destroy; 
Seize thou thine instant opportunities! 
78 



NOW 



79 



Live in the present! Give not one regret 

To what thou couldst not if thou wouldst recall, 
Nor seek to span the gulf before thee set, 

With bridge of futile fancy, soon to fall! 
Across the chasm a highway shall be thrown, 

For thee to tread in honor and in peace — 
Bearing thy burden, cheerful, though alone, 

Nor vainly longing for a quick release. 

Live in the present! Every day express 

The oil of gladness sweet experience holds — 
The oil of patience, faith, and holiness; 

These each pure moment like a flower enfolds. 
With these anointed, shall thy soul give forth, 

A perfume grateful as the spikenard, poured 
By the poor woman, kneeling on the earth. 

Upon the sacred feet of Christ, the Lord. 






8o 




"THE MAN WITH THE HOE " 

WHO least requires the pity of his kind — 
Who least desires your condescending aid ? 
He who with plow and hoe has conquered Earth, 
Piled high her treasures, gathered by his toil. 
Then sent them far to fill his fellowmen 
With cheer and strength in every walk of life. 

Perchance his soul has grovelled, as has yours; — 
Losing for long that intercourse sublime 
Which even humble minds may have with Heaven; 
Forgetting, in less worthy things absorbed, 
The themes most fit to stir his deepest life. 
Whose soul can soar forever with the lark 
Piercing the blue and pouring forth her notes 
In tireless ardor toward the smiling sun ? 

Two-fold our nature is — earthy of earth 
And holding kinship with the angels too. 
Who loiters or who labors in the mart, 

8i 



82 ''THE MAN WITH THE HOE'' 

The factory, the farm, or else, whereaye 
The foot of man may wander, may forego 
His sonship's privilege and dwell with swine 
Far from the portals of his Father's house. 

Least apt are they to be imbruted souls 
Whose lives, here spent beneath the azure arch. 
Shun competition's strife and tricky trade. 
Peace is this Temple of the open sky, 
Trust is its roof-tree, Freedom is its thought, 
And Purity its atmosphere benign; — 
Its cult the Sweet Paternity of God. 
Here Nature blends her tuneful harmonies, 
And, whilst one prays, the Spirit-Dove descends. 

The sturdiest, strongest, bravest men are they 

Who gather nourishment and fortitude 

And lofty purpose from God's great Out-doors; — 

The while, through straight, brown billows of the soil 

They drive the plow ; or, when the sun and rains, 

Divinely sent, faithful and diligent. 

Have ripened well the wisely planted seed, 

Garner in Autumn all the gladdening gold. 

Least apt are these — the children of the soil — 

To suffer long a needless tyranny. 



"THE MAN WITH THE HOE'' 83 

And if they cling to honored customs loved, 
And homes in which their fathers lived and died, 
Shall any dare defame them for their choice, 
Or foist on them a pity they would scorn ? 

Ye who would fain behold our world transformed, 
Either by fierce upheavals or by dreams. 
Commiseration for the worker spare! 
'T is he who labors patiently and well 
At humbler or at higher tasks, or both. 
Whose slow accumulations bless mankind 
With stepping-stones of means for progress sure 
And themes for poet's or for angel's song. 

There is no scale that weighs the wage for work — 

Though worlds are weighed that sail the universe. 

The tireless journeys of celestial spheres, 

Eclipses, movements, balances, returns ; — 

The dizzy whirl, in great cotillions swift. 

Of suns and satellites athwart the sky — 

All these are measured by the master mind, 

With times and compensations furnished forth: 

Not so the measurements of groping men 

Of what is meet as labor's just return. 

And, though man's mind may weigh the heavenly orbs, 



84 " THE MAN WITH THE HOE " 

And e'en predict the straying comet's course, 

He cannot, if he would, declare the meed, 

Exact and just, for service, here or there. 

And so he bargains, barters, or controls, 

And gains the best result at cheapest hire. 

Supply, demand, with ignorance, and chance, 

Are factors in the fluctuating wage. 

Conventions come; — rates, grades, and sliding scales- 

They cut the tangles, but they fail to mark 

True lines of value for the worker's day; 

And every worker's value varies, too; 

The standards shift as do the drifting sands — 

The hourly sport of fickle Ocean's waves. 

Alas the reeling reckoning of man 

On things that touch his duty and the right! 

For truth the sage and priest make futile quest; 

The good physician guesses remedies; 

The judge but gropes and staggers at the law; 

The daft reformer tilts at windmills still; 

And, with distorted eye, the Christian reads 

The very text that points the way to life. 

If thus we live as in the dawn of truth — 
The night still struggling for the mastery — 



''THE MAN WITH THE HOE" 85 

Shall workers then denounce the elements ? — 
Or, as by fierce delirium beset, 
Strike blindly out, heeding and recking not 
What blows thus given may shatter and destroy 
So that, like Samson, desperate and blind, 
They might but wreak revenge in Ruin's crash ? 

Shall we be blameless if we warm and nurse 

The serpent Anarchy to work our woe ? 

Nay, rather, turn we to the fairer side 

Of mysteries which Faith must find yet dim. 

For, who can doubt that even ill-got gains, 

(Damning the getter to the lowest depths) 

By Providence transmuted, serve His plans ? 

The greedy grasp but for a moment holds; 

The world of life inherits every hour 

Houses and lands, parks, monuments, and roads, 

Inventions, schemes, and purposes of power, 

Which dead hands can but drop and leave behind. 

And if the stout-armed toiler proved a man 

In larger sense, and moved by larger heart — 

If, as he seized the elements of strength 

Whilst still in plenitude of worthy will. 

He gave back freely to his weaker kin 

The well-earned product of his toil and thought — 



86 



''THE MAN WITH THE HOE" 



Then twice blessed he who could both win and give 
The wealth that else might not have learned to bless. 

Patience shall conquer all — not fierce recoil! 
When man shall reach the top-most peaks of joy, 
And in serenest mind look back on life, 
Shall dread Destruction or Impatience stand 
The Almoner of grace and goodly gifts ? 
Nay, rather, shall a stately, Christly form 
Emerge upon the path so bravely trod, 
And, with a voice of gracious dignity. 
Proclaim — I, Labor, am the Friend of Man, 
His Teacher, Guard, Companion to the end: 
By me his great achievements all are won, 
By me his feet have gained supernal heights. 





HE is risen! Hail His presence !- 
Broken seal and empty grave !- 
These declare the King triumphant, 
Strong to conquer and to save. 
Nunc Surrexit! 
Vere, Vere! 
Joyous be our hearts and brave! 



Better feast than of Eostra, 

Goddess of the rising sun, 
Or the grander old Passover — 
This that tells of victory won! 
Nunc Surrexit! 
Vere, Vere! 
Shout for what our Lord has done! 



87 



Lo, the Pascal Lamb who suffered! 

Now the Prince whom empires bless! 
Led the Star above the manger 
To the Sun of Righteousness! 
Nunc Surrexit! 
Vere, Vere! 
Let the Earth her Lord confess! 



Bring the flowers that tell of Springtime! 

Garlands to the altars bring! 
May the joyful choirs of Heaven 
With the Earth responsive sing! 
Nunc Surrexit! 
Vere, Vere! 
Christ is risen! Christ is King! 




LofC. 



88 




EPITAPH 

For a Mother tn Israel who Died at Eighty 

Tivice forty days the ark of life was borne 
In safety o'er the death-encompassed flood: 

The dove-like soul now hails the promised morn 
And flies to rest upon the Mount of God. 




EC 6 1900 



